Snowpack shaping up better for Front Range, Weld County than rest of state

High mountains in central Colorado were mostly dry in December. This is a view from the Crested Butte Mountain Resort looking up the Slate and East rivers, tributaries of the Gunnison River on Dec. 19, 2017. By the first week of January 2018, snowpack in the Gunnison River Basin was 35 percent of normal, the lowest on record for this time of year. By March, it rebounded to 63 percent of normal, but still has a ways to go.

Check the numbers

Basin % Median Snowpack % Average Reservoir Storage

Gunnison 63 107

Colorado 81 117

South Platte 87 110

North Platte 91 __

Yampa/White 78 125

Arkansas 64 142

Rio Grande 55 121

SMDASJ* 53 105

Statewide 72 116

The South Platte River Basin, encompassing the Front Range, including Weld County and agricultural land from Denver to Nebraska, is in better shape than much of the state when it comes to snowpack, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The department this week released updated snowpack numbers, showing a rebound for the South Platte River Basin, which is now at 87 percent of median. The North Platte River Basin, at 91 percent of median, is in even better shape, and both areas outpace the statewide total of 72 percent of median, which would require quite a feat from Mother Nature to correct.

"Greater than 200 percent of normal snowfall through the end of April would be necessary to overcome current deficits," Brian Domonkos, Natural Resources Conservation Service Snow Survey supervisor, said in a news release from U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District's Brian Werner said the district watches snowpack carefully.

Along with the South Platte, Werner and others look to the Upper Colorado snowpack, which sits at 81 percent of median. He said it's not awful. Even if it was, Werner said reservoir storage is looking good.

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Indeed, in every area measured, reservoir storage is more than 100 percent of normal, with storage in the Arkansas at 142 percent of normal, a potential silver lining for an area with 64 percent median snowpack that suffered 45 percent median snowpack a year ago.

The San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan have the lowest snowpack levels, at 53 percent of median, and the lowest reservoir numbers, at 105 percent of median.

"The southwest is not in good shape," Werner said. "It's come back a little bit. We're all in this ballgame together, in some respects. We'd rather see everybody have water. We like it when it snows, it doesn't matter where."

— Tyler Silvy covers government and politics for The Greeley Tribune. Reach him at tsilvy@greeleytribune.com. Connect with him at Facebook.com/TylerSilvy or @TylerSilvy on Twitter.